The field of the invention is storage containers, and the invention relates more particularly to display and storage racks of the type commonly used in retail stores.
With increased competition, retail stores continue to make it easier for the customer to find items without the need of inquiring from a clerk. One approach to this problem is to package the goods in a highly graphic container so that the customer can see the item and understand it from looking at the side of the box. This approach, however, is not practical for many small items, and items such as tools, for instance open ended wrenches as a typical example. It would be impractical and greatly increase the expense of such products to package them in a manner that the tool could be seen by a picture on the box. Hanging such tools on a rack displays them properly but requires substantial servicing of the rack since typically the hanging area holds only a small number of tools. While metal shelving is commonly used to display hardware items, such shelving is expensive, very heavy and paint thereon is easily chipped or damaged. A light-weight display rack has far more flexibility and may be moved and placed depending upon the season of the year or other marketing considerations.
Numerous storage racks have been designed utilizing tubular, rectangular and other elongated storage elements. Examples of such devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,502,227; 4,099,626; 4,179,033 and 4,433,803. None of these devices, however, are satisfactory for the storage and display of items for resale at retail such as tools.